Eccentric exercises, which emphasize lowering a weight, rather than lifting it, increase muscle size and strength with fewer repetitions.
Performing eccentric movements – the “lowering” aspect of lifting a weight – pays huge dividends in muscle size and strength, a new study has found. Study participants who lowered weights achieved similar benefits to those who lifted and lowered weights, even though they performed half as many repetitions.
Researchers asked 53 young adults who did not regularly lift weights to perform one of three variations of a dumbbell curl twice a week for five weeks. The variations included concentric + eccentric (lifting and lowering) movements, concentric (lifting) movements only, or eccentric (lowering) movements only. One group of participants did not perform any exercises. The researchers measured the participants' upper arm muscle thicknesses before and after the intervention.
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They found that all the participants who performed the various exercises saw improvements in muscle size, strength, and force-generating capacity. In particular, muscle thickness increased by an average of 10.6 percent among those who performed concentric + eccentric movements, 9.7 percent among those who performed eccentric movements only, and 2.5 percent among those who did concentric movements only. Interestingly, the total training volume for those performing eccentric movements was roughly half that of the concentric + eccentric group.
These findings suggest that performing eccentric movements during resistance training benefits muscle growth and strength – with less effort than concentric movements. [Learn more about eccentric and concentric exercises in this episode featuring Dr. Brad Schoenfeld.](LINK)